


Adam's Fate

by CoffeeAddict80



Series: Desperate Times... 'verse [5]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-17 00:52:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10583013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeAddict80/pseuds/CoffeeAddict80
Summary: ((One-shot in the Desperate Times ‘Verse. You should probably read that story first. This takes place during the epilogue; it spans a one month period starting with the day after Adam’s Facebook post.))Kurt & Blaine visit Nakia to discuss legal actions they can take against Adam. And we learn the results of those actions. :)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wasn't going to write this as a one-shot because I didn't want to bastardize the US legal system, since I don't know much about it. But I did do a little bit research on the penalties of copyright violations, so the dollar amounts you see in this fic should be accurate. everything else should be taken with a grain of salt. enjoy!

Kurt and Blaine walked up to the secretary’s desk and smiled at the young man sitting there. “Hi, my name’s Angel Humm, I have a 9am appointment with Nakia Imari,” Kurt said.

“Of course. Just a moment,” the man replied, politely. He picked up the phone and pressed the intercom button. “Your 9am appointment is here,” he said into the receiver. He nodded his head then hung up the phone. Looking back up at Kurt and Blaine, he pointed to the door to the left of his desk and said, “You can go right on in; she’s expecting you.” He then returned to the paperwork in front of him.

The two boys walked into the office, and Nakia greeted them with smiles and handshakes. “Angel. Devon. I was a little surprised to see your name on my appointment list. What brings you here to see me?” She motioned for them to take the seats across from her desk then sat back down herself.

Kurt sighed. “I’ve got a bit of a problem; and Devon thought you would be the best person to help.” Nakia nodded her head and motioned for him to continue. “My ex-boyfriend sent my father and my roommate – and possibly other people that I don’t even know about – copies of a few of my videos and promotional photos that he took off of the TEG website; knowing full well that they had no clue that I work in the porn industry, nor do I want them to know that I do.”

Nakia’s eyes widened and a mischievous smirk took over her face. “You mean he made illegal copies of protected videos and photos then distributed them electronically to non-consenting parties? Photos and videos that I _personally_ own the copyrights to? Ones that I most certainly did _not_ give permission to be copied? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“That is _exactly_ what I’m telling you,” Kurt agreed.

“I see,” she replied. “Before I go any further with the legal questions, is everything alright with your father and your roommate and those relationships?”

“I think so,” he started. “Devon and I had to have a long talk with each of them – separately – but I _think_ we managed to convince both of them to come around. My roommate still seems a little perturbed about the whole thing, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. My dad on the other hand…it took _a lot_ of convincing, but he supports me completely; even though I can tell he’s still a little uncomfortable with it. It was so hard talking to him about this though. Part of the main reason I never told my dad about this job is because my dad has a heart condition; and he isn’t supposed to be stressed. So you can imagine the shock it must have been when he saw his only child in such compromising photos and videos. Adam is lucky that he didn’t put my dad back in the hospital with his little show-and-tell e-mail; or I’d be on the next flight out to London to go kick his ass in person.”

Blaine reached over and began gently rubbing Kurt’s back to try and calm him down. Kurt turned his head and gave Blaine a small smile of thanks.

“Adam is the name of your ex I take it?” she checked. Kurt and Blaine both nodded in reply then Nakia began speaking again, “Does Adam know about your father’s heart condition?”

“Yeah. He sat through many late night phone calls where I did nothing but talk about how scared and worried I was about my dad. He even volunteered to fly to Ohio with me a few times when my dad had some big, important doctor’s appointments. So, yes, he definitely knows. And he also knows that there is no way in hell I would have told my dad about this job on my own. As much as I love my father, he’s not someone who has ever been comfortable talking about emotions or sexuality,” Kurt told her.

“Well, I’m happy to know that this didn’t further affect your father’s health and that he is doing well,” Nakia replied. “I’m also happy to know it hasn’t put too much of a strain on your personal relationships. As for Adam…sending your father those videos – while _knowing_ about his heart condition – that could very well be seen as malicious intent on his part. He may be looking at some serious consequences – aside from just the copyright violations, that is. I’ll just need to ask you a few questions first, to determine what we’re working with here, if you don’t mind.”

Nakia began asking all sorts of questions about Adam, about the e-mail that was sent to Burt, and the photos that were sent to Rachel. She took note of which videos and photos had been copied. After that she called down to the office that runs the company’s website, had them locate Adam’s account, and send her a detailed list of everything he’s done on the site in the past month. She then continued asking various questions and taking notes until she was satisfied with the information she had gathered.

Once she had run out of things to ask, she looked over the notes she had taken. “So the good news is,” Nakia began, slowly, “that I _definitely_ have enough evidence to take Mr. Crawford to court. However, as far as the copyright violations go, I can’t file criminal charges on him; since he didn’t sell any of the pirated videos for a profit. But I can file a civil suit against him for violating the copyrights. And I just want to be _very_ clear here: even though I can’t file criminal charges, that doesn’t mean he’s going to be let off with a warning. The non-criminal fines for a copyright violation are no laughing matter. We’re talking up to $30,000 _per violation_. We have proof that he made illegal copies of at least 3 videos; and I plan to get a warrant to check his physical hard drive as well as his IP address to look for more. As it stands he’s looking at a possible $90,000+ fine. Then we’ll add in the photos he stole and distributed, the distribution of the videos he copied, the fact these were sent to non-consenting parties…” she trailed off as she weighed her options. “I’m fairly certain we can hit him with malicious intent on top of all that too, considering not only the written content of the e-mail, but his Facebook message, post, and replies as well. I think I might even be able to persuade the judge to consider criminal charges for those offences; but considering there is an international aspect here with him currently residing in England, that might be tricky; we’ll see how that goes.”

“ _Ninety thousand dollars_!?” Kurt exclaimed. “Damn, I didn’t think it’d be _that_ much!”

“Most people don’t; that’s why piracy is such a huge problem in this industry. People don’t realize how severe the penalties really are,” Nakia told him.

“Well, I, for one, am glad Adam will be facing such severe consequences,” Blaine added. “He deserves it after all the crap he’s pulled on me and Kurt…err, Angel over the years.” He closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, shook his head, and let out a frustrated sigh at his mistake.

Nakia began chuckling at Blaine’s slip-up. “You can call each other by your real names in here; it’s okay. I’ll need to use them in court and on all my legal documents pertaining to this case anyway.”

“About that…” Kurt interjected, “If at all possible, I’d like to keep my involvement – and Blaine’s too – in this case kept to the barest minimum. I’d rather Adam think this case is _strictly_ about you wanting compensation for copyright violations, rather than about me wanting payback or revenge. I just think: if he thinks either one of us are behind this, he might try to find another way to get even with us afterwards. And I’d really like to avoid that if I could.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Thrustin Entertainment Group will be plaintiff in this case. And with Eric and I listed as the co-owners of the copyrights on the pirated videos and photos, _we_ will be the ones facing him in court. Your names will probably only be mentioned in reference to the content of the stolen material, along with whoever else appears in those performances with you. And since this will be a civil trial, your presence in the courtroom _might_ not even be necessary,” Nakia explained. “Although, I will need to mention that you provided the access to the Facebook mentions; but I can always word it so that it seems like I asked you for them, rather than them being voluntarily submitted. Also, I’m sure that once I’m done with him, he’ll think twice about getting retribution.”

“I can’t possibly thank you enough for doing this for me,” Kurt told her.

“Honestly, I’m glad you brought this to my attention,” she said. “Adam committed a serious offence; and should not be able to get away scot-free. And I’m not just saying that because I have a personal monetary investment in this either. This company produces pornography as a means of entertainment; not as a means of revenge or harassment. If one of my employees is being threatened, it’s my responsibility to take action. It will be my _pleasure_ to make him pay; financially _and_ emotionally.”

Blaine got a sly grin on his face and very playfully said, “Oh, you are a devious woman. No wonder Eric married you.”

Nakia arched her eyebrow at him and smirked. “I’m just getting warmed up; you haven’t seen anything yet.”

The two boys thanked Nakia for her time and left the office feeling a lot lighter than when they walked in.

\---

Over the next few weeks, Nakia had kept both Kurt and Blaine in the loop with what was happening in regards to the trial; well, as much as she was legally allowed to anyway. Her warrants to have Adam’s online activity as well as his physical hard drive scanned for additional pirated material had been approved, and turned up some interesting results.

In addition to the 3 known videos that Adam had e-mailed to Burt, they found an additional 12 videos that had also been illegally pirated off of the TEG website on his hard drive. They also found over 50 photos taken from the website as well. And since the photos that he had taken from the website had script protections on them so they could not be downloaded or saved directly from the site – and were in a photo gallery accessible to paying members only – Adam would be charged with copyright infringement on each of those photos as well.

Nakia had also acquired warrants to have copies of both Adam’s and Blaine’s college records pulled, to use as evidence that Blaine never filed any harassment charges against Adam – as Adam had claimed in his e-mail to Burt. These records would also show that a member of faculty filed a written misconduct warning on Adam for (negatively) tampering with a student’s grade. In the notes section of this warning it was mentioned that the affected student was, in fact, Blaine. Nakia intended to use this information to help prove Adam had malicious intent in not only destroying Blaine’s reputation, but making the situation appear worse to Burt; causing more shock, anger, and stress and therefore increasing the risk of heart failure.

After a lot of going back-and-forth, the judge set to hear Adam’s case passed Nakia’s motion for criminal penalties to be considered in regards to the charges not associated with the copyright violations. Once Adam learned that there was a very real chance he could spend up to two years in jail, he decided to take a plea bargain to avoid incarceration.

It had taken a little over a month of court appearances before they finally reached a settlement. In the end, Adam was given a reduced fine of $350,000 and received 6 months’ probation. In addition to that he was also ordered to pay for all court fees associated with the case – including Nakia’s personal attorney’s fees – and his online TEG account was permanently suspended. During the court mandated probation period, all of Adam’s online activity would be closely monitored; and if he was caught doing anything he shouldn’t he would wind up back in court.

Kurt couldn’t wait to share the good news with his dad.


End file.
